Help Your Child Succeed In The Classroom

Have Your Child’s Eyes Examined By An Optometrist! 

Wondering what you can do to help your child succeed in the classroom this school year?  Success starts with GOOD VISION!  Take your child to have their eyes examined by an Optometrist.  Did you know that 80% of learning is visual?  If a child cannot see properly, they will not learn properly.  Vision problems affect literacy, and a child’s ability to copy, print, read, and track objects.  It also affects their ability to participate in play, the development of good hand-eye coordination and their self-esteem. 

 

1 in every 6 children has a vision problem significant enough to impair their ability to learn.  Many parents mistakenly believe that “their child sees fine”.  Even if you think your child sees well, you should ALWAYS take them to have their eyes examined regularly to be sure they are healthy and working well together.  Only an Optometrist can tell you for sure!    

 

Here are 2 common and preventable conditions that Dr. Phil sees in children:

Amblyopia ("lazy eye") is poor vision in an eye that may appear to be normal.  Parents may think their child sees well but in fact their eyes are not working equally.  Two common causes are crossed eyes and a difference in vision between the two eyes. If untreated, amblyopia can cause irreversible visual loss in the affected eye.  Amblyopia is best treated during the preschool years.

Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes; they may turn in, out, up, or down. If the same eye is chronically misaligned, amblyopia may also develop in that eye. With early detection, vision can be restored by patching the properly aligned eye temporarily, which forces the misaligned one to work. Surgery or specially designed glasses may also help the eyes to align.

Milton Optometry recommends that children have a comprehensive eye exam every year.  Early identification of a problem is the key to successfully correcting a child’s vision.  We welcome infants, toddlers and children of all ages to our family-friendly office!  Phone 905-636-9500 to reserve an appointment for your family.

 

 

 

How to Enhance your next Massage with Essential Oils

When your baby, toddler, or child is hurt or not feeling well, a common thought is to “rub it better”. Whether they have a tummy ache or bang their elbow, mothers and fathers, often use touch as a natural reaction to reassure and comfort your little ones. Although parents use this so often, sometimes they forget that they too can benefit from this concept of touch. Whether your goal is to enjoy a moment of peace and relaxation, decrease tension, or even reduce pain, therapeutic massage has been shown to have tremendous benefits on your physical health and well-being.  

A popular complementary therapy used to enhance regular massage treatments is aromatherapy where concentrated essential oils are massaged into the skin. These natural oils are extracted from herbs, flowers and other parts of the plant, and are used to treat various diseases. Aromatherapy is not a new concept. Originating in Egypt and India, it has been practiced for thousands of years and has evolved from ancient traditions of herbal medicine. With increased popularity of massage therapy and aromatherapy, more research has taken place to discover the benefits of this adjunctive treatment. This increase in research has found that aromatherapy combined with massage is better at reducing anxiety following treatment than massage alone.

The massage therapists at the Health Centre of Milton offer three different varieties of aromatherapy blends:

1) Relaxation Blend: Geranium,
Sandalwood, Lavender, Orange

2) Energizing Blend: Rosemary, Lemongrass,
Bergamont

3) Decongestant Blend: Lemon, and
Eucalyptus

We invite you to add aromatherapy to your next massage therapy treatment. Please not that it is important to inform your massage therapist of your health history as some blends are not recommended for everyone. 





Written by Dr. Sarah Chajka HBKin, DC

 

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The above information was collected from the British Journal of General Practice, June 2000 “Aromatherapy: a systematic review”

Fern Resort is the Perfect Family Summer Getaway for Fun and Adventure!

This month momstown chapters in Southern Ontario were lucky enough to enjoy a Summer Family Vacation at Fern Resort - an ALL Inclusive one stop destination that is sure to please every member of your family!  Our family consists of 3 very active people who are always on the go. Our style of vacation is being outdoors as much as possible and partaking in all things sporty. We were not disappointed!

As soon as we checked in, we were given not one but two activity itineraries with an hour by hour breakdown of what was going on for BOTH children and adults for the day. We were informed that we could pick up a daily list by dinner for the next day. Looking over the list I knew this was going to be a jam packed weekend! The best part was that Fern offers a child drop off service at the Play Village with qualified camp instructors that will take your kids to the planned activities listed so that you can enjoy the adult activities. This service was included with our stay - BONUS!

After we were settled in, we wasted no time in hitting the mini golf course and then worked our way over to the trampolines all before dinner time.

The meals at the resort were scrumptious and well thought out. The kids had their own self serve buffet (at breakfast and dinner) with multiple kid fav's that even the pickiest eater could find something familiar that they loved. There was also an option to come down to the dining hall a half hour earlier to feed the kids and then drop them off at the play village for supervised play so that the adults could sit down to a quiet, relaxed meal - GENIUS!

There was no shortage of nightlife at this happening hip place! There were several pool tables, video games, Bingo, Bonfire, a magic show, staff  karaoke  night, dance party, kids movie night with staff supervision, a hypnotist and that was only the two nights we were there - WOW!

With all the excitement we experienced our first night there, we couldn't wait for mornings to hit to try out the extreme adventure options that were listed. There was no shortage of things to do and at times we had to make some tough decisions in order to decide which of the multiple activities we wanted to participate in. Here are some of our favourites from the weekend:

Zorbing:  the recreation or sport of rolling downhill inside an orb, generally made of transparent plastic - My son experienced this on the water! Miss Emily ( Junior Director at Fern Resort) ROCKED! She was patient and upbeat and my son listened to every word she said. I was honestly surprised that he didn't freak out!

 

Ready, Aim, FIRE! Hubby was determined to get a Bullseye and he did on his second attempt at Archery! It was great having experienced staff like Mike (adult director) on hand for a quick tutorial and pointers on how to line up the arrow correctly.

We then Zipped over to Rock Climbing, the swinging bridge and tried out the zip line while we waited for the Slip n Slide to be set up. Thanx Jamie ( Youth Director) for letting my half pint join in with the big boys! Who knew dish soap, water and a roll of plastic wrap could be so much fun!

 

 

There was no shortage of water activities to keep cool in the hot summer heat. Three Pools and a lake offered plenty of choices to pick from. Canoeing, paddle boats and hanging at the pool with our new buddies was what we were able to fit in over the course of a weekend.  If you do stay longer make sure to make time for the sunset cruise, stand up paddles boards, water skiing and fishing excursion.

 

Man did the weekend fly by! That's what happens when you're having the time of your life. It felt good to unplug for a bit and get in some quality family time. I loved that Fern Resort offered plenty of variety and catered to everyone regardless of age. I also appreciated being spoiled with the delicious meals and by the attentive staff that seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing. If you are in search of a fun and adventurous Family Getaway - Fern is the place to be!  Don't forget to ask for your momstown discount when booking - ENJOY!

Today's Parent Bonus Offer for becoming a momstown member!

There’s never been a better time to join momstown Milton!

When you purchase or renew a full year momstown membership in August or September, you will receive a BONUS subscription to Today’s Parent!

For a limited time, included in your membership to momstown is a one year (12 issues) subscription to Today’s Parent! This includes all new memberships as well as existing membership renewals, and applies only to full year momstown memberships ($45).

Even if you are not up for renewal for months, your time will be added in ADDITION to what's on it now so you won't lose any time at all! You know you are going to renew so why not take advantage of this perk while its available : )

This special offer is available from August 1st, 2012 to September 30, 2012 inclusive.

Already receive Today’s Parent? Then your subscription will be extended one additional year!

I love reading the articles and keeping up to date with newest and greatest in products and services! The articles are informative and there is great subject  matter. YES I'm a tad bit biased since being mentioned in the September 2012 issue on page 76 : )


Click here for full details and mark your calendars to renew or sign up soon!

Loving my new Toshiba Thrive Tablet!

Last week I attended our momstown National conference where we were all given the opportunity to try out 4 of the new Toshiba Thrive Tablets amongst our group. I was eager to get the opportunity to have the hands on experience since that's how I learn best. I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to navigate myself through it to get to my email account, face book, twitter, take pictures and of course look at our momstown Milton website!

Having had the opportunity to play with it helped to make me realize that working off of my phone was no longer a productive way of getting things done and that I really needed to add the Toshiba Thrive Tablet to my Christmas wish list as a must have item.

It didn't stay on my wish list for very long since I ended up being chosen by my peers as a lucky winner. I was going home with a Toshiba Tablet of my very own..unbelievable! Thank you to both my momstown teammates and Toshiba for this awesome prize pack!

Working with it more, I have come to appreciate the size of the screen ( I don't have to squint anymore looking at my phone), the touch screen keyboard ( bye bye mouse) and the fact that it is a lot easier to type on have been a value added bonus for me. I like the fact that it is light weight and portable which makes it easy to bring along with me since I'm always on the go. The grooved backing makes the grip more sturdier and stable which is a great feature to have when working around little hands that like to reach and grab.

The tablet was just too great of a prize to keep all to myself so I took it to our playgroup to see what our other moms thought about it. It was an instant crowd pleaser. Not only did the moms enjoy the ease of using it (one handed by some) and keeping connected, they also enjoyed watching their toddlers being able to navigate the touch screen with very little assistance.






Want to hear what our other moms are saying about the tablet. Check out the other winners blog - momstown Winnipeg, momstown Guelph, momstown.ca and momstown Edmonton South for their thoughts and opinions.

Want to win one of your own? You can enter here to win your very own Toshiba Tablet from our momstown contests blog or nominate a good Samaritan in your community to receive one by entering them in the Toshiba Holiday Hero contest. Good Luck!